Cardiff man loses £13K in alleged car cloning fraud | UK News

A man who unknowingly bought a stolen car for £13,000, after fraudsters allegedly used a sophisticated type of identity theft to “clone” it, is urging others to be vigilant.

Sevak Maljian, 35, made what seemed like a well-researched purchase of the Kia EV6 with no idea the car was sold to him with replica identity documents of another vehicle, complete with identification numbers and what appeared to be a genuine DVLA V5C logbook.

“All the details matched… there was no reason to question,” said the car enthusiast from Cardiff.

He was told by police the car had been reported stolen and it has now been seized.

The case is being investigated by the Report Fraud service and City of London Police.

Car-cloning can be as simple as stealing number plates, but the fraud type has become more sophisticated, leaving buyers of second-hand cars vulnerable.

Mr Maljian, a physiotherapist and NHS project support officer, said he first saw the three-year-old electric car advertised on Facebook in September and, after messaging the seller, they agreed on an “attractive price” if it was paid for in cash.

He travelled to London and met the seller outside Putney station on 5 October before viewing the car outside the address listed in its DVLA V5C vehicle registration certificate (logbook).

As a car enthusiast who had bought second hand cars before, Mr Maljian believed he had taken every precaution.

“I did all the checks that were recommended by the DVLA,” he told Radio 4’s You and Yours.

“I started first by checking the MOT, I checked the mileage and then I did the Total Car Check… it showed cleared finance, clear HPI, no accidents.

“All the details matched including the mileage, the colour, the specs of the car.”

The seller also showed him what appeared to be a genuine logbook, complete with watermarks and had matching ID.

“There was no reason to question,” he said.

Cars also carry a VIN which is stamped into the chassis – the main load-bearing frame of the car – but can also be found on the windshield, side of the dashboard, or the door jamb.

Mr Maljian said: “I did check the ones that are easily accessible which were on the front windshield and at the door but I did not on the chassis because it’s usually not an accessible place.”

While the all-cash payment rang alarm bells “a little”, he was confident that if he did all the checks he would not have anything to worry about.

Mr Maljian said the seller “gained my confidence on every aspect” and he drove 200 miles (320km) home to Cardiff without issue.

The shock came days later when he took the car to a local Kia dealership to ask about a faulty button on the key fob designed to access the boot.

Staff realised the key was a forgery and further inspection revealed the VIN on the chassis did not match the one on the windscreen and door.

Police confirmed to Mr Maljian the vehicle had been reported stolen in Kent and seized it.

Mr Maljian, who had taken out a personal loan to buy the car, was left with nothing, and is still having to pay £236 a month to repay his debt.

“I was really in shock,” he said.

“I’m a victim. I lost my money… I’m paying five years for something I don’t own.”

He says he feels frustrated that multiple security layers, DVLA documents, vehicle VINs and key coding systems could be bypassed.

He said he contacted Kia to point out that the car was still under warranty and it should not have been able to bypass the security on such a “high value item”.

A spokesperson for Kia said it was “saddened” by what happened and advised Mr Maljian to continue working with police and the DVLA.

A DVLA spokesperson said: “We understand how distressing vehicle crime can be. To help reduce the risk of fraud, we encourage buyers to follow the guidance on GOV.UK such as checking vehicle identification number details and confirming the seller’s identity.

“Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of fraud should contact the police through Report Fraud straight away.”

The case is currently being investigated by Report Fraud – formerly known as Action Fraud – and City of London Police, who have been contacted for comment.

While there are no official figures for car cloning across the whole of the UK, motoring organisation RAC believe “it’s increasingly widespread”.

Simon Williams from RAC described Mr Maljian’s case as “truly terrible”.

He said: “Criminals these days go to incredible lengths and they are stealing cars and defeating security systems extremely easily unfortunately.”

He added that Mr Maljian made many of the correct checks and he found the existence of what appeared to be a genuine DVLA logbook particularly troubling.

He urged buyers to verify the seller genuinely lived at the address on the V5C logbook, check every VIN including the chassis, and consider buying from reputable dealers instead.

Additional reporting by Catherine Earlam